Flash! Friday: A Collection of Short, Short Stories
by somekindofwildgirl
Summary: Because we all need a little help getting through Friday mornings. Random, unrelated stories of our favourite characters from Harry Potter. Pairings vary but I do have a soft spot for Draco/Hermione.
1. The Price of Freedom - Draco

**Hello! As I mentioned in my summary, this is a collection of drabbles. I want to work on my description in stories and thought this would be a good way to do that.**

 **Characters that will be featured often: Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Pansy Parkinson, and Ginny Weasley.**

 **If you have any requests, let me know and I'll try to do my best to write it!**

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 **The Price of Freedom**

 **Character:** Draco Malfoy  
 **Pairing:** None

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Draco Malfoy watches the golden sunlight creep through his bedroom window. As soon as five o'clock hits, the sound of groaning and a thumping headboard begin from the flat next door. He has a running bet with himself that the couple has a sex schedule. He's not sure which is sadder: a sex schedule or the fact that he's making a bet with himself.

When his alarm goes off, Draco forces himself out of his empty bed and blearily stumbles into the bathroom. As he brushes his teeth, he stares at the peeling wallpaper and the cracked porcelain sink. He runs his finger over the jagged edge. There has to be some spell to fix it. If he still had a house-elf, he would order it to repair the stupid thing.

If he still had a house-elf, he wouldn't be living like a Weasley. (It had taken months to find a place to live after the war. No one was interested in letting a flat to a former Death Eater.)

He walks to his closet and carefully puts on his red robes. It's the nicest thing he owns, a far cry from his Hogwarts days. For a moment, Draco considers quitting his job. The hours are long, the pay is shit, the paperwork is never-ending and the missions are rare. He hates it. There's a tiredness that has settled into his bones these past few years and refuses to leave.

But he's practically destitute, living in Knockturn fucking Alley.

The cost of freedom.

At work, he overhears his coworkers talk about their spouses and children, the home improvement projects they're working on, or trips they've taken. He watches everyone move on with their lives as if the war had never happened. The mark on his left arm has ensured that he will never have their lives. Taking one last look at his tiny, decrepit flat, Draco shouts "The Ministry of Magic" and enters the crackling, green flames.

Another day working for the government that had taken everything from him and still demands more.


	2. Rumour - Hermione & Draco

So apparently, I'm awful at keeping track of the days of the week (yay, shift work!). I know it's not exactly Friday morning... but at least it's Friday?

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 **Characters:** Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Draco Malfoy

 **Pairing:** Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger

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 **Rumour**

"Malfoy likes you," Ginny says the moment she sits down. Hermione ignores the redhead and continues working on her Arithmancy questions. "That's your reaction? The most sought-after guy at school is interested in you and you don't care?"

Knowing that she won't get any peace until she answers, Hermione puts down her quill. "Isn't that sick? After the war, you would think that no one would be interested in him. But I guess the fact that he was never marked absolves him."

"He's hot," Ginny shrugs. "Even you can't be blind to the way he looks at you."

"He doesn't look at me. And even if he did, it doesn't change the fact that he's an arrogant arse that only cares about himself. Have you seen the way he treats girls?"

"Maybe if he found the right girl, he would stop sleeping around. All I'm saying is that he's different this year. Coming back to finish his schooling proves it."

Hermione rolls her eyes. "He's only interested in me because he's not used to rejection. He'll lose interest when he realizes that he has no chance."

The redhead looks like she's about to disagree when Luna joins their table. With Ginny distracted by the blonde, Hermione opens her backpack to retrieve her Arithmancy textbook. Her fingers brush against crumpled parchment. Pulling it out, she opens it and finds a note scrawled in a familiar script.

 _'Come to Hogsmeade with me this weekend.'_

The words disappear as soon as she reads it and she knows this is the latest Weasley product. Enchanted parchment, the magical equivalent of texting. Only Malfoy would crumple up something that costs so much. That, and this was the third message from him this week.

 _'You're delusional if you think that I would agree to go with you.'_

 _'What do you have to lose?"_

 _'I'm not interested.'_

She throws the parchment back in her bag - Merlin forbid that Ginny gets her hands on it - and returns her attention to her homework. Yet her mind keeps drifting to Malfoy.

The next time that she glances up, Hermione realizes that the sun has set and the library is completely empty. She doesn't remember Ginny and Luna saying goodbye. Stretching her arms, she smiles as she puts away her completed homework. She slings her bag over her shoulder and waves goodbye to Madam Pince. Not even two steps out of the library, she runs into Malfoy.

Ginny wasn't wrong when she said that he had changed. The war had destroyed the cowering boy and a man now stood in his place. It unnerves her the way that his grey eyes watch her. Hermione had lied earlier when she said that she hadn't noticed the way he looked at her. If anyone was watching carefully, they would have seen her glances. Not that she was interested. Just… curious.

"What do you want?" she asks, though she knows already.

"What will it take for you to agree to go to Hogsmeade with me?"

Hermione rolls her eyes. "Maybe I would have considered it if you didn't treat girls like shit."

"I don't treat them poorly. I'm very clear with them that I'm not looking for anything serious. It's not my fault that they don't believe me," Malfoy says.

"I'd like to say that I'm flattered by your interest, but I'm not. I don't do casual."

He laughs. "I know, Granger. That's why I'm asking you out on a date."

"The answer is still no," she says as she walks past him.

"By the way, you look pretty today."

Hermione hates how her heart skips a beat at his words.


	3. The Vampire, Potter, and Piss - Draco

**Characters:** Draco Malfoy, Harry Potter

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 **The One With the Vampire, Potter, and Piss**

There's a suspicious puddle beneath the man passed out at the end of the bar. Draco hopes that it's spilt beer, but the foul stench says otherwise. There's three different colors of lipstick on his glass and he's certain the bartender is a vampire. At least, he looks like one.

Normally, Draco wouldn't be caught dead in a dump like this. But his personal stash of firewhisky was depleted and it was the middle of the fucking day. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Another one," Draco says. The amber liquid burns his throat and the warmth blooms across his chest. Before he can truly enjoy the sensation, his peace is broken. The wooden door creaks open and someone takes a seat next to him. He doesn't need to look to know who it is. "What do you want?

"I wanted to make sure that you're alright," Potter says.

"Does it look like I'm alright?" Draco asks, signalling to the bartender for another round. The drinks are slammed in front of them. Potter doesn't touch his, while Draco knocks his back. Mercifully, this glass is lipstick free. "She's leaving me."

Potter looks uncomfortable. "I know. There was an announcement in The Daily Prophet this morning."

"I always knew that I was going to find some way to fuck it up. It just never crossed my mind that she would stop fighting for us."

"Everyone has their limits, I suppose. You haven't made it easy for her these past few years."

Draco rearranges the empty glasses in a straight line. "My mother died, Potter. She was the only family that I had left," he snaps and then chuckles. "I never realized that Hermione was my family until I lost her too."

The snore from the end of the bar startles him as Potter traces the grooves on the wooden counter. The bartender disappears into the backroom and the silence is fucking painful. He's drinking to forget, to numb the pain, but all it's doing is loosening his tongue.

"Ginny and I haven't shared a bed in three months. I can't remember the last time we had sex."

"I don't give a shit about your sex life."

Harry drinks his shot and winces. "I hate this stuff. Ginny and I broke up."

"Shit."

"Yeah."

"Well this fucking sucks."

Neither of them say anything, each lost in their own thoughts. The bartender returns and pretends to clean a glass. Really, the man should be ashamed of himself. This place is a fucking dump.

Potter looks up suddenly. "Wait… did that guy piss himself?"

Draco rolls his eyes and orders another round. Between the wannabe vampire, Potter, and the piss, he was going to need a lot more alcohol.


	4. Pep Talk - Hermione & Harry

**Characters:** Hermione Granger, Harry Potter

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 **Pep Talk**

After the Wizengamot dismisses her latest proposal, Harry drops by her office with a sympathetic smile and drags her to the nearest pub. Hermione tries to protest. All she wants to do is curl up with Crookshanks and escape into a book. Or take a long bath. Maybe sulk a bit. But Harry ignores her and the next thing she knows, they're seated at a table in the Leaky Cauldron.

The Friday night rush is just starting. People are only on their first or second drink and she's hoping to retreat home before the drunkenness begins. Hermione always feels exposed when she's out in public. It's not uncommon for her to get approached by strangers and when she's with Harry, there was guaranteed to be a swarm at some point.

Harry raises his eyebrow and her terrible day spills out of her before the server even has a chance to leave.

"I feel so useless," Hermione says, accepting her elf wine. "I thought by joining the Ministry, I would be making a difference."

"You are making a difference," Harry says.

She laughs. "Am I? I've been in the Department for five years already and no law has been changed. We won the war, but there's still prejudice everywhere. Why do I bother?"

"Because if you give up, who else will fight for what's right?" he asks and she hates the guilt that wells up within her. "Maybe this isn't a battle that can be won in a day, but you have to keep fighting. One day, things will change and the world will have you to thank for putting in the groundwork."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I know you. You fought by my side and didn't turn back when things got difficult," he said, his green eyes bright and honest. "You're burned out right now. Take some time for yourself and get back in there."

Hermione wipes her tears and smiles at her oldest friend. "Thank you, Harry."

"You're going to change the world."

The moment that Hermione finds out that she will be the next Minister for Magic years later, her mind goes back to that conversation. The future had seemed so bleak. Everyone had laughed at her efforts and refused to take her seriously. Except Harry. He had always been her biggest supporter and there's no one else that she wants by her side as she's accepts the position.

Together, they changed the world.


	5. Treason - Pansy & Draco

**Characters:** Pansy Parkinson, Draco Malfoy

 **Pairing:** Draco Malfoy/Pansy Parkinson

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 **Treason**

The moment it's socially acceptable to leave the ball, Draco and Pansy escape into his bedroom. She used to live for social events. The glamour, the dresses, the exclusive guest list filled her daydreams as a girl. Being on the guest list was a mark of success, a sign that you were important. Now, the parties are tainted with dark magic. It hangs in the air, polluting everyone and everything. The glazed look of someone under the Imperus curse is too common nowadays.

Draco heads straight to his desk to pour them both a much needed drink. She's torn between wanting to scrub her skin from the vile magic that lingers in Malfoy Manor and needing to forget the evil she had just witnessed. Crawling into bed, she accepts the drink and savours the burn of firewhisky as it travels down her throat and warms her chest. Draco joins her, his perfect hair mussed and his grey eyes unguarded.

It had always been the two of them against the world.

"What if He wins?" she asks, voicing both of their fears.

He takes a swig of the amber liquid. "Then we're screwed. We're screwed either way."

"Maybe we should consider going to Potter. I know we don't have the best history, but he could help us."

"No. Absolutely not."

Pansy sits up, the blanket pooling at her waist. "We're in over our heads. I think it's time that we recognized that."

"Of course, we're bloody in over our heads! The Dark Lord is living in my house. There's nowhere for me to run to. If He ever found out that we were considering running to Potter, he would wipe out our families."

"What else are we supposed to do? Serving Him is tearing us both apart. If we don't go to Potter… we'll be sent to Azkaban."

"And if we go to Potter, we die a painful, gruesome death."

Pansy downs her drink. "I can't sit back while He burns this world to the ground. After everything we've seen, been forced to do… I don't care if I don't survive this."

"Potter is on the run, the old coot is dead, who are we supposed to go to?"

She doesn't answer, only clutches her empty glass and burrows further into the bed. He's right. With Potter and his friends on the run and Dumbledore dead, there's no one else to turn to. There was too much bad blood between the Parkinsons, Malfoys and Weasleys for Pansy and Draco to turn to redheads for help. Apart from Potter, Granger, and the Weasleys, there was no one else's loyalty that they could afford to trust. The Dark Lord's spies were everywhere.

"We'll have to figure it out ourselves," Pansy finally says.

Draco grabs her glass and places it on the nightstand with his own. "Same as we always have."

"Together," Pansy says as he wraps his arms around her.

She relaxes into his familiar embrace. Despite their fallouts, they had always supported each other. They had their parts to play: the pureblood prince and princess. But at least in the safety of his room, they could take off their masks for the briefest moment.


End file.
